Thursday, October 28, 2010

On Election Eve, Here Comes the Judge

As he prepares to don the scarlet of the papal "Senate," hours after B16's announcement of his name among 24 new princes of the church who'll be elevated next month, the Holy See's Wisconsin-born "chief justice," Cardinal-designate Raymond Burke, recorded the following amicus brief in light of Tuesday's midterm elections:

The comments have already been applauded in an editorial of the Washington Times... and if history holds, response from Wuerl coming in 5... 4... 3....

...and Catholic Action for Faith and Family -- the group which conducted the interview with the cardinal-designate -- has posted fullvideo of the 25-minute session.

The complete interview will be shown three times over the pre-election weekend by EWTN; in a release on the airing, the network said the sit-down "may be the most important program Catholics will see prior to the Nov. 2 election."

About Me

One of global Catholicism's most prominent chroniclers, Rocco Palmo has held court as the "Church Whisperer" since 2004, when the pages you're reading were launched with an audience of three, grown since by nothing but word of mouth, and kept alive throughout solely by means of reader support.

A former US correspondent for the London-based international Catholic weekly The Tablet, he's been a church analyst for The New York Times, Associated Press, Washington Post, Reuters, Los Angeles Times, BBC, NBC, CNN and NPR among other mainstream print and broadcast outlets worldwide.

A native of Philadelphia, Rocco Palmo attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. In 2010, he received a Doctorate of Humane Letters honoris causa from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St Louis.

In 2011, Palmo co-chaired the first Vatican conference on social media, convened by the Pontifical Councils for Culture and Social Communications. By appointment of Archbishop Charles Chaput OFM Cap., he's likewise served on the first-ever Pastoral Council of the Archdiocese, whose Church remains his home.